The present invention relates to a third-order nonlinear optical material for use in, for example, a fast switch, an optical logical circuit, an optical memory, a phase correction device, a phase conjugate mirror or an image transmission material. In particular, the present invention is concerned with the third-order nonlinear optical material which contains a specified complex compound.
It is known that certain types of materials, e.g., organic compounds exhibit third-order nonlinear optical properties, and these materials are also generally called nonlinear medium. However, such conventional third-order nonlinear optical materials based on organic compounds generally exhibit a high absorption of rays having wavelengths within the visible wavelength range and does not exhibit a high third-order molecular hyperpolarizability, so that the availability thereof as third-order nonlinear optical materials is low. Therefore, there is a strong demand for the development of a practical third-order nonlinear optical material exhibiting high third-order nonlinear optical effect.